Michael Y. Granger Appointed as Member of the Foundation for a World in Transition's Steering Committee

Washington, DC, March 16, 2014 --(PR.com)-- The Foundation for a World in Transition, Inc. is proud to announce the appointment of Michael Y. Granger as a member of its Steering Committee with particular responsibility over its Africa Co-Development Initiative.

Mr. Michael Granger is a Chairman and co-founder of Africa Global Sourcing, LLC, co-founder and general partner of Ark Direct Capital Fund, LP, and co- founder and co-managing partner of Ark Private Equity Partners, LLC., a Chicago-based private equity firm with a national investment scope in middle market companies. He is Chairman of the Capital Access Forum, an annual forum designed to facilitate and increase access to capital for emerging entrepreneurs and minority businesses, which, under the auspices of the Obama Administration, convened to assess the impact of the financial crisis on SMEs and to devise strategies for increasing the flow of capital to those sectors. Michael Granger also served on a White House Panel of Business Leaders convened by the President’s Chief Economic Advisors.

Michael Granger is currently engaged in bringing a new wave of American industries to Africa for investments in and financing of private sector development projects to support the growth of Africa's small and medium- size enterprises and address the needs of underserved markets. Michael Granger has been instrumental in ‘Power Africa’, a $7 Billion U.S. Government's initiative announced by President Obama, of whom he is amongst the earliest supporters, over his latest trip to Africa to double access to power in sub-Saharan Africa. Michael Granger is also advising African governments on how to best build entrepreneurial capabilities to develop these rapidly emerging economies more effectively and fulfil the full potential of the continent in the 21st century.

Prior to forming Ark Capital in 1991, Michael Granger has been an active professional in private equity and venture capital most notably with Xerox Venture Capital and Cigna Venture Capital since 1985.

Michael Granger has been a private equity investments expert for programs at Harvard Business School, Dartmouth College, the U.S. Commerce Department, the Small Business Association, the National Black M.B.A. Association, the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs and the American Association of Entrepreneurs.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Entrepreneurs, the American Youth Soccer Organization (A.Y.S.O.) as well as of several of Ark’s portfolio companies.

His publications include: ‘Case Study on Hospital Management Companies’; an editorial piece in The Wall Street Journal on Capital Gains Tax Reduction; and a Study on Venture Capital Opportunities in the Telecommunication Industry (Tuck Today Magazine).

Michael Granger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years during the Vietnam era.

Louis-Lyonel Voiron, President of the Foundation for a World in Transition, commented on the appointment of Michael Granger: “The Foundation for a World in Transition is thrilled to benefit from the considerable expertise of Michael Granger in the fields of private equity and entrepreneurship and from his commitment to Africa's development. We very much look forward to his contribution to our Africa Co-Development Initiative.”

Michael Granger declared: “I'm thrilled to contribute to the Foundation's Africa Co-Development Initiative and I'm looking forward to the opportunities and challenges ahead.”

The Foundation for a World in Transition is a Washington DC-based non- profit, non-partisan membership organization, whose goal is to help current and future decision-makers remain a step ahead of the challenges of our time and shape the future.